Are we becoming too quiet? As a joyless, intolerant shrew, my kneejerk answer is a predictable “if only” (writing this on a train full of happy holidaymakers isn’t helping). But am I wrong? I find myself confronted with evidence that people are taking the expression “say less” literally. A study recently reported in the Atlantic found that daily spoken word counts declined by around 300 every year between 2005 and 2019. A sample group of 2,197 participants, aged between 10 and 94, wore devices that randomly recorded them as they went about their lives; each year, they spoke on average 338 fewer words than the year before. For under-25s, the decline was even steeper: 451 fewer words.
Even I can see that’s worrying. Spending time with other people is good for our brains, health and mood, while, as the US surgeon general put it so starkly in 2023, “lacking social connection can increase the risk for premature death as much as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day”.
But silence is seen as a desirable self-improvement tool; healthy even. “Silent walking” is a wellness hack, we’re noise cancelling like never before and Hilton’s trend report this year has introduced me to the horrid concept of “hushpitality”. Claiming “sometimes the best travel companion is silence”, Hilton reported on the (depressing) rise of digital and AI-enabled tools – virtual check-ins, text communication, bots – that allow travellers to “protect their peace”, and quoted a survey in which 57% of US travellers said they’d be interested in a silent or quiet retreat. We seem convinced we need quieter lives, but maybe we actually need more chat?
It’s further evidence that knowing what’s good or bad for us has become baffling, labyrinthine, probably impossible. Lettuce is potentially deadly now and New Scientist informs me lightbulbs are “wrecking your metabolism” (doubtless soon darkmaxxing influencers will be promoting cave living). So, should people wear their headphones more or less, and is silence something to gorge on, or enjoy in moderation? Maybe we need a version of Michael Pollan’s brilliantly simple dictum on food – “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” – but for talking. How about: “Speak words, mostly in person, not too loud (and never on speakerphone)”? I’m open to other – quietly voiced – suggestions.
